Holidays and Other Excursions

Tag: Essaouira

Morocco 18.11.19

Modern aerial 18.11.19

Modern aerial 18.11.19

The last day of the group holiday is a tour of Essaouira which I will admit I struggle both to say and spell!  The oddest sight was possibly the heavily disguised communications tower (above).  I am not sure what it is intended to achieve.

Essaouira 18.11.19

Essaouira 18.11.19

The town is principally a fishing port and the harbour still has a very large number of boats bringing in the catch which is then readily available in the local market.

Fish Essaouira 18.11.19

Fish Essaouira 18.11.19

Inevitably being a port fortifications were needed

Essaouira Fort 18.11.19

Essaouira Fort 18.11.19

You can see from the pictures that it was a nice day.  We were looking forward to staying on a few more days after the rest of the tour party departed to enable a few quiet days of relaxation in the sunshine.  Somehow the authorities had other idea and we ensured more or less constant rain throughout the extension.  Most disappointing.  I liked the town – but would have preferred better weather.

It seemed a long way through near desert to return to Marrakech to catch the plane taking about three hours or so.  Then once at the airport our flight is subjected to additional checks which do not apply to other travellers plus they do not do the entire flight – so if you had turned up at the last minute you would not have been tested.  No-one could actually explain why it was necessary or what it was designed to achieve so utterly pointless.

We returned home on 22 November.

Morocco 17.11.19

Goat in tree 17.11.19

Goat in tree 17.11.19

Initially on leaving Taroudant we head west to reach the coast near Agadir then we turn north (the alternative is the Atlantic Ocean) and head along the coast for some time.  Eventually the road turns inland and we get to see the famous tree climbing goats.

More goats in tree 17.11.19

More goats in tree 17.11.19

I will be honest and admit that I am slightly cynical about these tree climbing goats.  I accept that the landscape is pretty bare and that there is not a lot of food to be scavenged by the goats.  During our short stop many photos were taken (me included) but I still query the ability of the goats to actually get into the tree in the first place.  There were one or two branches but I am far from convinced that the goats simply find a way of clambering up.  However it is a noted tourist stop and maybe, just maybe some of the goats do manage the ascent to feed themselves.  The shepherd seems to do well out of it!

Tajines 17.11.19

Tajines 17.11.19

Along the way we stop for lunch and a wander around a local market which despite the sparsity of vegetation is well supplied with meat and vegetables, bread, tajines, plus animals for sale.

We head onward to our final stopping point on the holiday Essaouira where we stay in a rather nice riad – a step up from the one in Marrakech.